narrator
· The story is told in four chapters by four different
narrators: Benjy, the youngest Compson son; Quentin, the oldest
son; Jason, the middle son; and Faulkner himself, acting as an omniscient,
third-person narrator who focuses on Dilsey, the Compsons’ servant.

point of view
· Benjy, Quentin, and Jason narrate in the first person,
as participants. They narrate in a stream of consciousness style, attentive
to events going on around them in the present, but frequently returning
to memories from the past. The final section is narrated in third-person
omniscient.

tone
· The world outside the minds of the narrators slowly
unravels through personal thoughts, memories, and observations.
The tone differs in each chapter, depending on the narrator.

tense
· Present and past

setting (time)
· Three of the chapters are set during Easter weekend, 1928,
while Quentin’s section is set in June, 1910.
However, the memories the narrators recall within these sections
cover the period from 1898 to 1928.

major conflict
· The aristocratic Compson family’s long fall from grace
and struggle to maintain its distinguished legacy. This conflict
is manifest in Caddy’s promiscuity, her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, her
short marriage, and the ensuing setbacks and deaths that her family
members suffer.